The Ugly Duckling
by she-never-missed
Summary: Rose Weasley has Ugly Duckling Syndrome, and she's tired of getting picked on by the world. But sometimes , despite everything, true beauty can shine through in the end. Slight Scorose. ONESHOT


**Hey guys, so this fic is based loosely off the Ugly Duckling story, and it was written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition (big surprise there- not like all my fics for the past half year have been for that competition) but this is probably going to be my last fic for a while. So I hope you like it! Cookies for everyone who reads, and an extra for anyone who reviews. :) Cheers,**

**~Dani **

Rose Weasely had never been considered beautiful. It wasn't considered an insult to say so, it was just a fact. It was a fact that she'd always known. Her red hair wasn't thick and shiny, like her cousin Lily's. Her pale skin looked washed out, rather than glowing the way Victoire and Dominique's porcelain features always seemed to. Even her younger brother had inherited their father's piercing blue eyes, instead of their mother's plain brown ones. By the time Rose was in fifth year, all of her cousins were Hogwarts heartthrobs in their own right, but Rose was still just Rose.

She didn't mind too much at the beginning. Dom and Victoire were just destined to be beautiful. That was something that everyone had always known. James, with his messy dark hair and striking blue eyes, was Hogwarts' biggest flirt- classic good looks were just part of the deal. Rose's cousins had always been lovely, and it was always just so much a part of the norm that she sort of forgot about it. Until the world decided to remind her.

* * *

><p>She was sitting in fifth year potions when the first note hit her, right in the back of the head. She turned, but when everyone seemed to be intent on their notes, she rolled her eyes and unfolded the torn-off piece of parchment. '<em>I thought Weasleys were supposed to be attractive.' <em>

Only eight words, and Rose's heart started beating furiously loud in her chest. She whipped her head back around in an attempt to catch whoever had thrown the message to her, but nobody met her eyes. The blue eyes of her best friend, Scorpius Malfoy, turned to look at her, but she just shook her head. Rose was sure he was the only one in all the world who didn't prefer one of her relatives over her, and she didn't want to drag him into this- whatever this was.

"It's nothing," she said, shoving the parchment into her robes, "I thought I heard something in the corridor. That's all." And she turned back to her notes.

She spent the remainder of the lesson in silence. _I thought Weasleys were supposed to be attractive. _There was Lily- bright, fun-loving, and practically radiating sunshine. There was Albus- quiet and sarcastic, with speculating green eyes shining from under effortlessly tousled dark hair. Rose was pretty sure James didn't even need to be mentioned, with chiselled features and sly smile that could get a good 99% of the female population to swoon (he was probably related to the other 1%, most people figured).

But Rose wasn't any of that. And apparently, people noticed. Later, she found another note placed neatly on her pillow in the Ravenclaw dormitories. '_You can't possibly be related to James Potter. Are you adopted, hon?' _ She crumpled the paper and threw it into her bag, not before noticing a slight stain on one side of the parchment, and the intoxicating scent that came with it- a strange mix of lavender and peppermint.

The notes didn't stop there. They continued right until the end of the school year, some messages blunter than others, from '_Are you sure you're who you say you are' _to '_Open your eyes and look in the mirror. Because you're burning mine.' _Her eyes welled with tears upon reading the last one, and she tried to push them back so she could say goodbye to her classmates.

It was the last day of the year, and the students of Hogwarts were milling around in the Great Hall before the Hogwarts Express came to take them home. Rose was standing with Scorpius and Albus, smiling weakly at her fellow classmates as the boys hugged people goodbye for the summer.

"I'll miss you!" squealed a blonde girl, who Rose recognized as Emily Goyle. She squeezed Al and Scorpius tightly and then turned to Rose. "Don't I get a hug too?"

Rose rolled her eyes and opened her arms, allowing Emily to embrace her. Girls like Emily Goyle made her skin crawl, with their high pitched voices and girlish giggles and- and a peppermint and lavender scented perfume. Rose took a step back. She recognized that scent. It wafted through the potions room every Monday, and it had burned her nostrils ever so long ago when it was sprayed onto one of her very first notes. Signing it.

She took a step back. Emily was still smiling- teeth showing, like a shark. Rose smiled back, but her expression felt cold. "I'll see you around, Goyle," she said shortly, and turned on her heel. Only Scorpius followed her.

"You okay?" he asked, once they were out of sight.

"Of course," she said, "Why wouldn't I be?"

Her words were a challenge, obviously so, but Scorpius didn't take the bait. After knowing Rose for five years, Scor knew better.

"No reason," he said, trying to keep his voice light, "But you know me. Always just checking."

She gave him what was meant to be a reassuring smile, and although he smiled back, his eyes gave away that he didn't fully believe her. They were laced with a kind of worry that guiltily, in the back of her mind, made her sort of happy. Happy because he cared enough to worry, when no one else did.

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><p>That summer, something strange happened. Rose's frizzy red curls tamed themselves into glistening waves. Her features became more proportionate, somehow, and her body filled out in places that reminded her of her elder cousins. Suddenly, she resembled the her mother in a way she never had before. Delicate features, small but strong. Brown eyes shining with a newfound confidence.<p>

The next year, when September rolled around, Emily Goyle with her peppermint-lavender perfume stopped right in her tracks upon seeing Rose boarding onto the Hogwarts Express.

"Rose!" she called, and rushed to catch up to her. "I missed you!" Emily threw her arms around her, and Rose cringed backwards. When she finally pulled away, she was smiling, with no trace of the shark-teeth she'd shown at the end of the last year. And Rose understood.

Looking at the reflection in the train glass, she saw herself, standing with Emily and Scor and all of her cousins. It looked right now; her standing with Albus and Lily and Dom. She was a swan now, flying with the rest of her family, and Emily could see that.

Rose just smiled, and linked arms with Scorpius, the only one who'd stayed with her through her Ugly Duckling days. "Yeah, Goyle," she said, already turning away, "I wish I could say the same."


End file.
